Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion

by Dan Arnold

Overview

In Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief, Dan Arnold examines how the Brahmanical tradition of Purva Mimamsa and the writings of the seventh-century Buddhist Madhyamika philosopher Candrakirti challenged dominant Indian Buddhist views of epistemology. Arnold retrieves these two very different but equally important voices of philosophical dissent, showing them to have developed highly sophisticated and cogent critiques of influential Buddhist epistemologists such as Dignaga and Dharmakirti. His analysis—developed in conversation with modern Western philosophers like William Alston and J. L. Austin—offers an innovative reinterpretation of the Indian philosophical tradition, while suggesting that pre-modern Indian thinkers have much to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates.

In logically distinct ways, Purva Mimamsa and Candrakirti's Madhyamaka opposed the influential Buddhist school of thought that emphasized the foundational character of perception. Arnold argues that Mimamsaka arguments concerning the "intrinsic validity" of the earliest Vedic scriptures are best understood as a critique of the tradition of Buddhist philosophy stemming from Dignaga. Though often dismissed as antithetical to "real philosophy," Mimamsaka thought has affinities with the reformed epistemology that has recently influenced contemporary philosophy of religion.

Candrakirti's arguments, in contrast, amount to a principled refusal of epistemology. Arnold contends that Candrakirti marshals against Buddhist foundationalism an approach that resembles twentieth-century ordinary language philosophy—and does so by employing what are finally best understood as transcendental arguments. The conclusion that Candrakirti's arguments thus support a metaphysical claim represents a bold new understanding of Madhyamaka.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231132800
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	12/07/2005
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dan Arnold is assistant professor of the philosophy of religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: On the Rational Reconstruction of South Asian Philosophy
Part I: Buddhist Foundationalism
1. Dignaga's Transformation of Buddhist Abhidharma
2. The Problems with Buddhist Foundationalism
Part II: The Reformed Epistemology of Purva Mimamsa
3. Nobody Is Seen Going to Heaven: Toward an Epistemology That Supports the Authority of the Vedas
4. Are the Vedas Are Intrinsically True? Prima Facie Justification and the Mimasaka Critique of Buddhist Foundationalism
Part III: The Metaphysical Arguments of Madhyamaka
5. A Philosophical Grammar for the Study of Madhyamaka
6. Candrakirti Against Bare Particulars: An Expression of Madhyamika Metaphysics
7. Is It Really True That Everything Is Empty? Candrakirti on Essencelessness as the Essence of Things
Conclusion: Justification and Truth, Relativism and Pragmatism: Some Lessons for Religious Studies
Notes
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Matthew Kapstein

In Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief, Dan Arnold succeeds in advancing our knowledge of philosophical debate and dialogue in India, while demonstrating the relevance of the ancient Indian debates to current discussions in the philosophy of religion. Philosophically stimulating and a pleasure to read, Arnold's work is an essential contribution to both philosophy and the study of religion.

— Matthew Kapstein, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, author of Reason's Traces: Identity and Interpretation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Thought

Georges Dreyfus

Dan Arnold offers a very readable and valuable treatment of some of the most difficult and important topics in Indian philosophy. This is an excellent and innovative take on an extremely rich and important period of Indian philosophy, a veritable feast for those interested in getting a deeper understanding of this very rich source of insights.

— Georges Dreyfus, Williams College, author of The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Monk

Paul J. Griffiths

Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief combines exegetical care, linguistic skill, and normative philosophical concern. The result is a deeply illuminating and in some respects revolutionary interpretation of the Madhyamika critique of Dignaga's epistemology, and of the relation of both to the Purva Mimamsa. But that's not all: Arnold's book is also a philosophical achievement in its own right, deploying with admirable care and precision the distinction between truth and justification to argue that the principal purpose of argument is not to produce but to justify belief, and to show thereby that (and how) Mimamsakas and Madhyamikas may both be justified in holding what they hold.

— Paul J. Griffiths, University of Illinois at Chicago, author of Lying: An Augustinian Theology of Duplicity

Jay L. Garfield

Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief is a landmark in the study of Indian Philosophy and in Buddhist Studies, a rigorous and subtle exploration of epistemological and ontological foundationalism in a cross-cultural context and a great read. Arnold sheds new light on the importance of Mimamsaka to Buddhist philosophy and develops a fascinating account of Madhyamaka epistemology. His graceful deployment of a wide range of Indian and Western texts and arguments is a model of how to do cross-cultural philosophy.

— Jay L. Garfield, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy, Smith College, author of Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation

Roger R. Jackson

Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief is cross-cultural philosophy at its best, a dazzling foray into the heart of Indian and Western ideas of knowledge, reality, and truth. Its readings of classical Hindu and Buddhist thinkers are fresh and challenging, its deployment of contemporary philosophy sophisticated and fruitful. The reader is left deeply impressed and enriched.

— Roger R. Jackson, Carleton College, editor and translator of Tantric Treasures: Three Collections of Mystical Verse from Buddhist India

Sheldon Pollock

Dan Arnold's Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief is a singularly accomplished introduction to the critique of foundationalism in early India. No one has addressed the core problems of epistemology more trenchantly than Indian thinkers. And no one has provided a more probing and accessible exposition of their many-sided controversies than Arnold, or a more forceful demonstration of their claim on the attention of students of contemporary philosophy.

— Sheldon Pollock, William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies, Columbia University, author of The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

Editorial Reviews

Thought-provoking.

Journal of Buddhist Ethics

Arnold's book has been an instant success, and it is clear that any future work on Dignaga, Candrakirti, and their Hindu rivals will have to take its arguments into account.

H-Buddhism - Malcolm David Eckel

A thoroughly stimulating read for anyone interested in Indian, Buddhist or cross-cultural philosophy.

The Journal of Religion - Douglas Osto

An illuminating and lucidly written study... recommended for anyone interested in the study of religious thought.

Religious Studies Review - Mario D'Amato

Arnold's book is impressive on many levels. It is a brilliant study of several key figures in the history of medieval Indian thought. It is also a thought-provoking and intelligent exploration of contemporary issues in epistemology and philosophy of religion that makes the potential audience of the book much wider than the relatively small circle of those of who delight themselves by picking their way through the briar patches of difficult Sanskrit and Tibetan texts. Finally, it is a profoundly civilized book, one based on an abundant charity of interpretation that offers thoughtful criticism without any trace of a tone of denigration of the many positions entertained.... A delightfully provocative book.

Journal of the American Academy of Religion - Richard Hayes

An illuminating and lucidly written study... recommended for anyone interested in the study of religious thought.

— Mario D'Amato

Religious Studies Review

A thoroughly stimulating read for anyone interested in Indian, Buddhist or cross-cultural philosophy.

— Douglas Osto

The Journal of Religion

Arnold's book has been an instant success, and it is clear that any future work on Dignaga, Candrakirti, and their Hindu rivals will have to take its arguments into account.

— Malcolm David Eckel

H-Buddhism

Arnold's book is impressive on many levels. It is a brilliant study of several key figures in the history of medieval Indian thought. It is also a thought-provoking and intelligent exploration of contemporary issues in epistemology and philosophy of religion that makes the potential audience of the book much wider than the relatively small circle of those of who delight themselves by picking their way through the briar patches of difficult Sanskrit and Tibetan texts. Finally, it is a profoundly civilized book, one based on an abundant charity of interpretation that offers thoughtful criticism without any trace of a tone of denigration of the many positions entertained.... A delightfully provocative book.

— Richard Hayes

Journal of the American Academy of Religion

An illuminating and lucidly written study... recommended for anyone interested in the study of religious thought.

Mario D'Amato